


Warlords

by LadyTroll



Category: Gloryhammer (Band)
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Plotting, discussing treason, just some headcanons here lads, the regular GH disclaimer applies, the terrorvortexed dimension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26151613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTroll/pseuds/LadyTroll
Summary: - Why are you asking this of my people?- Because it is necessary.
Kudos: 5





	Warlords

**Author's Note:**

> IDK anymore where I read it (let's be honest, it was probably the hellsite), but I once read a quote that went something like this:
> 
> "You cannot defeat the devil, while being an angel yourself."
> 
> ______________  
> Something very short, before I go on a month of radio silence. Just wanted to throw this one out here before I do; it might serve as an introduction to another fic currently in the writing. Or it might not.

\- Do you realize what you are asking for, Commander?

\- Fully so, yes.

\- The people here, - the old man gestured about the room, as if all he was referring to were currently present, before crossing arms on his chest, - they are not warriors. Not soldiers. My best warriors, _my only warriors_ , I have sent to you, to Achnasheen. What remain here are farmers; peasants that have never held a weapon in their hands in their whole life. We have no means of standing up against him, save for the walls, and those are not going to hold forever. We have only survived for this long because we do as Lord Zargothrax commands. It is by his will that we are permitted to live, and yet I risk the lives of my people daily, by aiding the resistance. If he comes here with his army, the city will fall, and everybody will die.

\- I know that.

The one that the Lord of Dunkeld knew only as “the Commander” never seemed to change. Over the years, he had remained the same person that the ruler of the city had first met shortly after his own ascension of what was, by that time, only formally the throne of Dunkeld, and yet here the man sat now, tired, almost human, with his dusty uniform and grey streaks in his hair and beard.

\- Then why are you asking this of my people? Of me?

\- Because it is necessary.

The voice was steady. Certain. It permitted no objections. Everything was already decided, the Lord of Dunkeld realized this very second. Everything had been decided years ago, at that precise moment when he ordered his lackeys to open the door to his throne room and let in the stranger who bowed to nobody and who had so cunningly slipped past the deathknights stationed at the city gates and the citizen militia (a pale mockery of the actual militia that had fallen, like flies, when the Dark Emperor of Dundee marched into the city together with his knights) who patrolled the streets, and the guards posted at the entrances to the castle who maintained the illusion of the situation resting safely in the hands of the rulers of Dunkeld, not an evil wizard who resided in what was left of Dundee and who could, at any given moment, destroy Dunkeld together with everybody present behind its walls, should he only please so.

\- And what if he doesn’t come? – there were times when the lords of Dunkeld pleaded to nobody, but those were long past. – What if this mighty warrior of yours does not come? What if I sacrifice my city and my people, and it’s all for naught?

\- The solar conjunction moves ever closer, - the Commander’s facial expression changed, as if a shadow had passed it, for such short moment it might have just as well been the host’s imagination. – If it arrives, and we are not ready, then it won’t matter anymore whether he’s here or not. If it arrives, and we are not ready, nothing will matter any longer, because we all will either die, or become enslaved. I know I am asking for a great sacrifice on your part, but there is no other option. We must obtain the information, and there is no other way to do it.

\- I knew from the moment I first saw you, that I would be the last ruler of Dunkeld, - the old man sighed, before reaching out for a handshake, feeling he sealed the fate of his beloved city and every single one of its inhabitants with it. – So be it. I shall pray, to Hoots, every waking moment that’s left for me, that you are right and this sacrifice is not in vain.

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~The Zargel~~ His Imperial Highness, Lord Zargothrax, sure did take his sweet time to drag his crusty immortal arse over to Dunkeld, didn't he?


End file.
